 The
Spirit of Sonoma County
Apple-ation is
the creation of Guy Davis, founder and winemaker of Sonoma
County’s Davis Family Vineyards. Apple-ation is an
Ultra-Premium Apple Brandy made from 100-year-old organic
apple trees in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley – Dutton
Ranch apples to be exact. It is made in the tradition of the
finest Cognac and Calvados – aged in French Oak casks to
create a combination of smooth, aged complexity and bright,
juicy apple character.
The Process – upsetting the
apple cart to create some magic
Guy
starts with the classic Gravenstein apple along with four
other heirloom apple varieties from the Dutton Ranch, Sonoma
County’s “first family” in apple and grape growing. The
apples are left on the tree until the last moment, just
before they drop to the ground, to develop maximum flavors
and ripeness. Then the process breaks from tradition and the
real magic begins. Guy and his son Cole hand-sort apple by
apple, and then with a machine Guy fabricated from a grape
stemmer crusher, the apples are sliced and put into square
harvest bins and allowed to ferment using native yeasts.
The
common practice for brandy would be to press the apples and
ferment just the apple juice. But through experiments over
several harvests, Guy determined that he could intensify the
apple character by fermenting the apples more like red wine
grapes – leaving the apple solids, peels and all, with the
juice during the fermentation. It’s a much more
labor-intensive process, but worth it.
And it
doesn’t stop there. Once fermentation is complete, Guy puts
the entire mash (pulp, peels and all,) into a copper pot
still and pulls off only the highest quality apple esters to
age in the finest French oak casks until it reaches a point
where it achieves maximum complexity without losing any of
the extreme apple essence. Is all this fanatical effort
worth it? Once you experience the unique beauty of
Apple-ation brandy, you will never want it any other way.
The
Experience – fresh from the oven and ready to enjoy
Treat
your nose and mouth to the aromas and flavors of fresh apple
pie in a glass! As the label says, “Apple-ation in a snifter
is a perfect end to any feast, or in your favorite cocktail
as an anytime treat!” We have had floods of calls and
letters telling us of how Apple-ation has warmed the hearts
and souls of its drinkers. It seems that in Egg Nog it is
ethereal, and in a Brandy Alexander it is above divine. We
also get reports that when shaken with fresh-squeezed orange
juice and served up in a Martini glass, it can create a
night to remember. You know what they say about an
Apple-A-Day! |
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